Leviathan

Knowing that Mastodon is an offshoot of pioneering progressive post-hardcore band Today Is the Day may give prospective listeners a clue as to what awaits them on LEVIATHAN, but will probably not prepare them for the sheer metallic thrust and organic complexity of the Mastodon sound. Often recalling the most jaw-droppingly facile passages from Rush's 2112 mixed with the heaviest bits of Metallica's MASTER OF PUPPETS, the group's music is slightly less heady than that of peers Dillinger Escape Plan or Coalesce, but no less technically demanding. The difference may be Mastodon's obvious roots in metal rather than hardcore or emo; even the screaming vocals sound more like Slayer than Sick of It All. LEVIATHAN is at once serpentine and thundering, simultaneously positioning itself as one of the genre's most ambitious and accessible works, delivering 10 tracks that more than live up to the mammoth image suggested by the disc's MOBY DICK-inspired cover art and lyrics.

Rolling Stone (p.120)
- 3 1/2 stars out of 5 - "Mastodon are among the more stylistically diverse and accomplished of the new crop of indie metal bands."

Spin (p.120)
- "This white whale of a record lashes methodical riffology to nimble-yet-brutal tunes..." - Grade: A

Alternative Press (p.146)
- 5 out of 5 - "[U]nstoppable riffs and throat-poaching from Neurosis' Scott Kelly and Clutch's Neil Fallon seal the deal like a harpoon in your blowhole."

CMJ (p.18)
- "[I]t's like the Harley-Davidson of metal: lives to rock, and rocks to live."